$20.7M cut spares Gaylord MSP post

March 25, 2011|Michael Jones, Staff Writer

GAYLORD — Under Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan to cut $20.7 million from the Michigan State Police (MSP) budget next year, Gaylord is slated to become a regional hub and will absorb four area counties whose posts will be closed under the plan.

One day after MSP director Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue issued a statement announcing a regional policing plan which includes reducing the number of posts from 62 to 29, Sgt. Jeff Gorno, at the Gaylord MSP post, said Friday Gaylord would serve as a hub for Otsego, Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan and Emmet counties.

Kibbey Etue said the plan calls for troopers to be deployed throughout the state from either posts, detachments or as resident troopers who will work out of their homes.

Twenty-nine posts, such as the one in Gaylord, will remain open to the public and fully functional. Twelve posts will become detachments and serve as buildings where troopers will continue to work out of but be closed to the public other than through appointment. Other posts will be closed and shuttered. Kibbey Etue said 21 posts are slated for closure.

The current plan calls for the Cheboygan MSP post to be closed and the post in Petoskey to become a detachment.

Gorno said troopers currently assigned to the Petoskey and Cheboygan posts would continue to provide service in their counties while reporting directly to the Gaylord MSP post, where current post commander Lt. Blake Davis will be temporarily assigned as inspector of the new region.

“Right now this is all pretty new and how it will all be put into place still needs to be worked out,” Gorno said. “The bottom line is nothing has changed personnel-wise. We’ve just made four larger posts in Northern Michigan.”

In addition to the Gaylord region, the new cost-saving plan calls for Alpena, Houghton Lake and Cadillac to serve as regional post hubs in the northern counties.

According to Kibbey Etue, the regional model will not result in the layoff of any troopers who will continue to provide local public safety in their communities while relying more on new technology to provide a mobile office environment and perform many administrative duties directly from their patrol cars.